Chili’s, Powai.

Chili’s in Powai is an international chain of restaurants that is present in Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi etc. What you can expect at this sort of a restaurant is good, wholesome and comfort food; lots of Mexican plus South West American dishes making this a complete Tex- Mex joint.

The Chef:

Imagine watching the Food Network channel and Guy Fieri taking us down to one of his favorite diners in America, eating great ribs. Huge portions of appetizers and desserts that once you consume, it would take a toll on your heart; Chili’s in Powai is exactly that. My sister has had food at their outlet in Hyderabad and has never stopped talking about it. Unfortunately that outlet doesn’t serve any pork items, so when I told her we’ve been invited there, she told me in particular what to have. Yes, we agree we took the trouble of going all the way to Powai when we have the same kind of restaurants in the Burbs, but let me assure you that once you enter Powai, your entire thinking will change. Powai a ‘Micro City’ away from Bombay has done some great things for itself, the builders and restaurateurs have made sure that Powai people don’t need to get out of their small city as they have got everything right at their doorstep.

Due to a high number of expats that reside in the area, there are a lot of foreign food brands and restaurants that have popped up in Powai and are doing pretty well for themselves. When we entered at 8 pm, this place was already packed with office goers, youngsters, couples and even though it was a dry day the place was loud and full of energy. While we were waiting for our friend Anisha Dalal who was going to join us for our meal, we were scanning the menu and this is what we called for — A Triple Dipper which is a cool idea of having a sample of three starters of your choice with three different dips so we called for the Chicken Crispers, Wings over Buffalo and a Vegetarian Southwestern Roll, in addition to this we ordered a plate of classic Nachos. We also called for a small bowl of Chili (We shall talk about this is detail later) and for our mains we called for the Half Rack of what was the best Baby Back Ribs I’ve ever eaten!!!!!For dessert we called for one each of Bread Pudding and Chocolate Chip pie both of which were served warm and with a HUGE F*cking scoop of Ice Cream. One might think that after reading all our other reviews we’ve called for comparatively less amounts of food, but we were warned by our friend and my sister their portions are huge.

Classic Nachos

The Triple Dipper and the bowl of Chili made it way to the table first and we must admit, that bowl of Chili was as authentic as Chili gets. It was made of Buffalo meat ( Which we are glad Chili’s says out aloud) served to us hot with its melt in mouth mince and really hearty gravy!!! Served with a slice of crisp Garlic bread, this bowl of Chili really did set the tone for the other dishes to come. The Chicken Crispers, Wings and Veg South western rolls came with three dips which were to die for!!!! There was a Ranch Dressing, Chipotle mayonnaise and a third which had Onions and Tomatoes in it. Wings were nice and coated with a spicy sauce, not that spicy that they burn your lips and tongue; The South western rolls were deep friend rolls with a great filling of beans, spinach, pepper and cheese. But the Crispers won it!!! Soft and juicy cylinders of chicken which were crispy as f**k on the outside. The Nachos were something that we did not expect, each piece was topped with cheese and gratinated and a piece of jalapeno sat on top of each chip. The Sour cream and salsa were great but was missing the Guacamole. If you do not finish eating this when it’s hot, they will definitely become soggy and chewy by the end of it.

The Famous Chili

Now the mains, something that all of you are waiting for I’m sure — Juicy a**, MiM (melt in Mouth), falling off the bone pork baby back ribs!! My mouth is watering just thinking and writing about it. We asked the server to give it to us with a side of rice and vegetables (You know to cancel the fat 😐 , didn’t really help though :p) The ribs were smothered with BBQ sauce, loads of cracked pepper and if i’m not mistaken, I did see a Halo that appeared above these ribs with a bright light when the plate was approaching us. Spot on with its flavor and texture, the meat was falling off the bone ! All I could think was that I must learn how these guy do it! The ribs weren’t too fatty and the BBQ sauce wasn’t over powering but complementing the meat – All in all a great dish!!

A mad meal, needs a mad dessert and here at Chili’s they take their desserts seriously as well, Oh and did I mention HUGE portions? The Chocochip pie was to die for, warm bread based pie with loads of chocolate chips at the bottom which made the pie have a nice crust at the bottom. Just the right amount of sugar was in the cake and the HUGE scoop of Ice cream which went really well with dessert. It was also drizzled with chocolate sauce and caramel.

Bread Pudding

TheFoodie:

This month has been exploring new territories, from Chembur to Powai we aren’t letting anything stop us anymore (at this point we would like to give the Mumbai metro a huge round of applause for making this possible.) We were asked to check out Chili’s in Powai and we went through the menu to see what this trip was going to entail. Before we went into any detail we see this section including Baby Back Pork Ribs and rest was history.

More over I’m a big fan of well assembled Nachos. A basic yum cheese sauce, homemade fresh salsa, well made chili, crunchy nachos and then we’re talking. Knowing this is a huge chain, I was keen on trying these classics such as Chili, nachos etc. When we entered Chili’s the first impression I got was that it had a very amusement park like feel to it. Like a diner you would see in Imagica or something. Lots of expats enjoying on large tables, and as it was a dry day no drinks were being served.

The Insane Triple Dipper

The menu is huge so we didn’t know where to begin with. So we called for some starters, nachos and a bowl of chili. I found the vegetarian starter called Southwestern Roll we ordered, very interesting. Nice and mushroomy, very nicely packed with flavour and lots of corn, spinach, beans, pepper and jalapeno. I loved the wings! They were nice and spicy and had a nice tangy flavor which I loved. On reading the menu, you will learn that they are made with something called the Buffalo Sauce which is a Vinegar Based Cayenne pepper hot sauce.

Now comes the Chili, a tomato based meat stew, with onions and peppers. I was introduced to it a couple of years ago. This dish is known to have originated from San Antonio Texas and is supposed to have mainly dried red chili powder, cumin and oregano as spices. I liked what I tasted, it was cheesey and nicely seasoned. I also noticed that the taste overall was savoury. Some chilis that I have tasted have a hint of sweetness to it, but I liked it. Although with the Nachos, it will only add another salty element to an already savoury affair.

Best Baby Back Ribs !!!

We were very tempted to order the Texas Cheese Fries which comes with Homemade fries, Chili, Cheese and Jalapenos and a smokey dressing, but we settled for a plate of Veg Nachos. They looked very similar to pizza pieces, straight out of the oven with melted cheese on top. Served with sour cream and pico de gallo (fresh condiment made with chopped tomato, onion and pepper) and a piece of jalapeño added to each piece. They didn’t come with guacamole and cheese sauce. But can be brought if asked. Apart from the style, these nachos had a catchy taste, so you wouldn’t stop on any account.

Chili’s has various Salads and Burgers (with an Indian twist) on their menu. They also have something called BACON burger in their Big Mouth Burger Section, which is basically a meat patty topped with smoked bacon and cheese *types all teary eyed* Apart from that their Old Timer burger is known to be recommended. Due to time and stomach space constraints I didn’t have to liberty to try the sea food but they had some new dishes on the menu which looked very tempting! Classics like Crumb fried fish (Vietnamese Basa) along with fries and tartar sauce and Blackened Salmon, served with Cilantro aioli, Cilantro rice and seasonal veggies! Sigh. there is always a next time for that one 🙂 If you’re a fan of Fajitas, not only do they have a variety, they also have a cute build your Fajita tutorial on the menu! We saw quite a few of those being ordered around us, while we ate 🙂

The Deadly Chocochip Pie Cake with ice cream

This meal was the “Open your top button of the Jeans” kinda meal. After seeing this and what Powai has to offer we will definitely be back to try their Quesadillas, Burgers and South western Pastas. Chili’s is definitely a place for meat lovers, but their vegetarian selection is also quite huge. We will go back with an army of friends to try everything on their menu, a few might not survive the meal due to the heaviness, but its a rish the Bombay Foodies are willing to take 😀

Food: 4

Decor: 4

Value for Money : -NA- (For the quantity of food they give, the rpicing is very apt)

(The Bombay Foodies were invited to come and enjoy a meal here, the meals were not paid by us but honest opinions have been given in the above review)